Act 2 of “Translations” proved to be just as interesting as the first act. One of the main things that made me think deeply was when Hugh said, “But remember that words are signals, counters. They are not immortal. And it can happen—to use an image you’ll understand—it can happen that a civilization can be imprisoned in a linguistic contour which no longer matches the landscape of… fact.” I had never considered the fact that words aren’t immortal. For instance, words that were used a hundred years ago aren’t used in the same way that they are used today. Some words that pop into my mind are, “rad” or, “groovy” or, “snaky.” These words were used somewhat commonly just fifty years ago, and now they’re simply used to poke fun at older generations.